


The Last Nine Steps

by TheLongRoadHome



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - Fandom
Genre: Norse Mythology - Freeform, Ragnarok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 04:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/935091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLongRoadHome/pseuds/TheLongRoadHome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was merely the end of the world, and Thor was not scared. </p><p> </p><p>Not when Loki's arms were waiting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Nine Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on Norse mythology, so it's not accurate to either Marvel cannon or it's original Norse source, but a mashed up mixture of both. 
> 
> It's taken me a while to post this, mainly because it's a bit of a deviation from my normal writing style and I wasn't too sure how well the mash-up would be received, but two of my friends have read it and said it's postable. Please enjoy~

  
**“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.”  
\- Dag Hammarskjold**

 

It was merely the end of the world, and Thor was not scared.

Ragnarok, they called it. The name was not fearsome enough for the sight that beheld him.

The ocean was clawing upon the land in great fists of water, the remaining ground a great mass of combatants and armoured corpses, the sky a whirling maelstrom of bloody clouds and thunderheads. He could hear Heimdall’s horn and the echoes of the crow’s cries above the clash of godly weapons. The earth was trembling beneath him, as if the great roots of Yggdrasil were shuddering in abhorrence.

And yet Thor was not afraid.

The great serpent writhed in front of him; it’s huge maw gaping, hissing; flecks of poison hurtling toward him at great speed. Its body was a mass of great gilded coils and its head was raised so high it was shrouded in stormy cloud.

He breathed heavily; his side was cut open and bleeding freely, and his less powerful arm was hanging limply from its socket.

And still Thor was unafraid.

He called upon his lightning and his thunder, and cast it upon the snake’s head, sending it crashing into the ocean. It reared back up as quickly as it had come down, it’s eye bleeding, but Thor was quicker. Head raised, he ran with arm trailing to greet the monster with a long arching swipe of Mjolnir, and connected with the serpent’s jaw. He grinned, pulling the hammer back to his side, and knew his mistake instantly; he had spent a moment too long, too close. A great coil struck him from his feet, until he hit dirt what felt like leagues away. Ribs bruised. Head Pounding. Feet shaking. The snake roared, a long guttural, hissing warcry, and green flames hit it in the opposite eye.

Loki. Thor thought.

And there he was between the misting of Thor’s vision and the wrestling masses of soldiers, resplendent in green and gold.

The beast screamed in fury, looming over Loki. 

And Thor found his fear.

He ran faster than his lightning could follow, and felt the blows come easily, his mind fogged, his body moved on it’s own and above the shrieking snake and his thundering heart, he could feel Loki’s eyes upon him. It made him stronger. The serpent reeled, its tail thrashing in wanton directions now it could not see – one eye removed by Loki’s fire, the other by Thor’s lightning. Loki sidestepped it, and cast another barrage of spells, smiling cruelly as he did. But the tail came yet again, sweeping Loki from his feet, and crushing him to the earth. Thor felt it without seeing, roaring in rage. The thunderclouds growled overhead, the static in the air grew. The beast in its blinded wrath threw its head to the ground, taking Thor with it, and while he lay stunned, the venom dripped from its maw as it prepared to bite. Green Flames bit into the side of he snake’s head again, and it screamed, thrashing. Loki had seen Thor fall and let loose all of his magic, every spell and trick he had ever learned, every ounce of his power.

Its coils grew tighter, and the liesmith God knew that within them his not-brother fought the beast’s razor tail. There was a thunderbolt, the serpent’s head reared blindly. It could smell Loki, could taste him. And as it hissed, the air crackled with static. Loki put all his will into a shield to surround him before it could strike.  
Thor bellowed, and in one moment, Loki knew of his mistake. The snake reared, its tail sweeping Loki into the air, landing hard upon the rocks near its underbelly, and its head disappeared into the confines of great coils, where Thor fought. The God of Mischief roared in indignation, unable to pick himself up, and felt every reserve of his magic fling itself toward the beast. His legs would not move.

The sky above spat Lightning, and Loki felt Mjolnir strike the earth.

The serpent screamed, and its stomach was ripped apart with a wave of lightning. Loki smirked, as the writhing body disintegrated and burnt in the heart of Loki’s fire and Thor’s thunder. Plumes of black smoke laced the sky.

And Thor, in all his great glistening armour, with his golden mane of hair and hammer held aloft, knew finally his own end.

A single, tiny fang, no larger than his fingernail, glistened from his shoulder with poisonous malice. He looked upon his brother, face dirty and eyes quivering, laid in the dirt, his limp legs and bloodied hip, as he looked back upon the incisor, felt it blacken the very blood within him. They both knew. This truly was the end of the world as they knew it.

Thor took a step forward, and Loki made a strangled noise. Thor took another. He would never allow the weakness within him to win, until he was by his brother’s side. Loki could not speak, he shook his head and tried to pull himself along the ground like a broken animal, but still Thor walked, the poison spreading through him. His body shuddered with the effort, groaning and weeping sweat. Loki wished upon every star he knew that he would have magic enough to halt time then and there.

“Thor! Stop! No More! Do not move more!”

His brother paused, his shoulders shaking and body seeming to crumple under it’s own weight. Loki sunk his fingernails into the stone, pulling himself along, the feeling in his legs gone from him. Thor stepped again, back juddering under the weight of his armour. His eyes were unfocused and the wound on his brow bled freely, staining his jaw red.

“You will die brother! Stop!” Loki yelled, heat prickling behind his eyes and molten lead surging up his throat. Eyes wet and muscles screaming in agony. His fingers twitched toward the thunder God as he pulled himself further.

Thor did not stop, and after the ninth, agonizing step, he collapsed into Loki’s waiting arms. The black of the venom was visible through his skin, pulsing and burning. Thor panted and groaned, biting into his tongue. Loki curled as best he could over his beautiful Golden brother, and pressed his damp cheek to Thor’s face, brushed his dirt-clad fingers upon his hair, kissed the lips made black with poison, and felt the darkness enter his own body, burning the inside of his mouth. The Thunder God could only tilt his head and whisper away his last breath. They lay in the dirt together, soundlessly crying for both were aware of the desolation of the other. Loki drew back, and through his tears saw Thor try painfully to reach up to him and wipe them away; he had not the strength to do even that, and instead smiled, hand dropping, lifeless. His haunted, clever, beautiful little brother had returned to him before the end.

But they had lived apart, and lonely they had been, now together they were whole, and the world was being remade anew in the image they had left behind;

 

“Loki. I…”

 

And it was one of Hope.


End file.
